


what happens in the Rift

by Zerrat



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, Hate Sex, Manipulation, Noxian Psychology, Post-Combat Sex, Snark, Trolling and Counter-Trolling, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 10:28:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2689436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katarina and Irelia have absolutely no reason to get along, but when they're forced to work together in a set match contract, something becomes apparent. There is a darkness in Irelia that fascinates Katarina, a deep anger that sets her appart from many other Ionians. No matter her dislike for Irelia, she can't quite get it out of her head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what happens in the Rift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Avatar_of_Ragnarok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avatar_of_Ragnarok/gifts).



The dispute between Noxus and Demacia was boringly routine, and the charge itself unimaginative. Espionage by Noxian spies and the blatant flouting of the Institute's law - the usual drivel, really. Demacia's hypocrisy could be truly breathtaking at times, given Katarina had it on good authority that the Crownguard girl still took it upon herself to meddle in Noxian affairs. 

The accusations of espionage were also entirely true, not that it made an iota of difference. High Command would choke on its collective tongues before admitting liability to anyone. Instead, they placed their faith in their chosen champions with the silent threat - _do not lose_.

Surprisingly, Katarina herself hadn't had much of a hand in the espionage Demacia was objecting to. As far as the Institute was concerned, visiting Cassiopeia had unfortunately proven an adequate enough alibi not to exclude Katarina from the match, and so she'd been selected from the pool.

Routine charges, and a routine outcome. It was so _rote_ that as loyal as Katarina was, she viewed the upcoming match with a mix of both frustration and distaste. 

Her dim view of the procedings didn't so much as flicker even when the Ionian Captain of the Guard also made her interest in the fight known. 

_Predictable_ \- all Ionians were. Irelia in particular had been spoiling for a match against Katarina ever since the Institute had lowered its standards and allowed her to champion Ionia. Perhaps she believed that drawing some of Katarina's blood would sate whatever need for vengeance the woman harboured, for all the Ionian peasants put down during the conquest. 

Katarina had scarcely allowed Irelia the opportunity, though. As delightful as putting Irelia back in her rightful place would be... It had been far more entertaining to watch the woman stew and stalk the Institute hallways with little outlet for her mounting frustrations. 

Cheap amusements aside, Katarina knew she could not ignore Irelia forever. Already, Darius was beginning to look at her in askance, and gods forbid _Draven_ decide that her games were but a cover for cowardice. She wasn't sure she could live with the gloating. 

So Katarina did not take action to thwart Irelia in the lead-up to the boring match against Demacia - she instead allowed it. 

Of course, neither of them could have predicted that Morgana would pull out of the match at the last minute, leaving an empty slot on the Noxian side of things. Katarina would never have _dreamed_ that instead of having her chance to exact bloody vengeance on Katarina, Irelia was instead drawn to fight at her side.

###

Katarina cast another look Irelia's way, struggling not to laugh at the rich irony of it all. It was absurd! From the stony, angry expression on Irelia's face, it was clear she'd not expected _this_ result. Perhaps she'd die - again - from the shame of being forced to fight for her sworn enemies. Far more likely, though, was that she'd attempt to lobby the summoners one last time before the battle began, that she'd grit her teeth and bear it. 

Ionia's insipid notion of pride was an inconsistent thing at the best of times, Katarina had found, and in this? Irelia clearly had no idea _what_ she wished to do. 

It was rather like watching Tryndamere work himself into a psychotic rage. 

Katarina personally found no honour in fighting alongside an Ionian, no matter that the island had slipped free from Noxian conquest and gained independence. However, she did enjoy watching one squirm. 

She snorted softly to herself, resettling herself back against the preparation chamber's smooth stone walls and turning her attention toward Noxus' far more usual champions. A pace to her right, Talon was sharpening his newest set of throwing daggers, his expression impassive for all that his eyes kept flickering toward Irelia. 

Ahead of them, hefting his new axe to test its weight without even a glance in Irelia's direction, was Darius. He certainly didn't seem to share Talon's reservations about the Ionian upstart, but then, as 'diplomats' of varying authority, both Katarina and Darius were far more familiar with Ionian psychology. 

Singed, on the other hand, was the nearest to Irelia. True to form, he continued to cast the woman knowing grins. For all his genius, the man had become more than a mad dog, and he was well aware of the legacy his melters had left during the Ionian campaign. 

If only Noxus had been able to get Riven back under control and engaged Warwick - maybe they could have revisited the whole merry horror that had been the invasion. Katarina somewhat regretted the missed opportunity. 

However, if anyone could provoke Irelia into turning her blade on her forced allies, it would be a reckless fool like Singed. Judging by the Ionian's expression alone, that would be all too soon. 

The minutes dragged on, the overwrought lead-up to a boring match that meant nothing. Katarina watched Irelia stalk about the preparation rooms, rather like a caged tiger in a Demacian zoo. It was only when they heard movement in the summoning chambers beyond that Katarina finally decided to act. 

"Your plan backfired rather spectacularly, wouldn't you say?" she asked Irelia, her voice pitched loud in the small preparation room.

Irelia didn't respond, merely coming to a stop before the doors to the summoning chambers, apparently all to eager to be rid of Noxian company. Katarina's smile was vicious - oh, they could not have that.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Talon look up, his lips thinning. Already she knew what he was thinking, even if he knew better than to interfere. Instead, Katarina pushed herself off the wall, closing the distance between herself and Irelia with slow, deliberate strides. As she neared, she noted a muscle jumping in Irelia's jaw. 

Her smile widened. _Good._

Katarina circled in front of Irelia, disregarding the way the woman's blades tracked her every movement. 

"I know you heard me, Ionian. So keen for Noxian blood, and yet here you are, helping our cause." Katarina leaned in, far too closely, delighted by the way the woman's dark eyes narrowed and burned in silent fury. 

Ionian calm was but wishful thinking when it came to this one - Katarina had heard quite enough about the rage and hatred that drove the woman before her. Her eyes and ears in the Placidium spoke of muted questions such behaviour had stirred in Ionia's insipid leaders - and why Irelia had changed the way she had. 

So, she shrugged expressively, meeting Irelia's furious gaze with a smirk. 

"I realise this is... _difficult_ for you. Perhaps if we had Sion or Urgot on hand, you mind find you relate to them more -"

Irelia snarled and lashed out, seizing hold of Katarina's leathers in both hands and slamming her up against the summoning chamber doors. It was nothing unexpected, nothing that was not usual for Noxus - she didn't flinch, didn't cry out. That must have bothered Irelia, and she felt the woman's blades rest against the hollow of her jaw. 

She felt a spike of killing intent from somewhere behind them, every Noxian and Zaunite in the room suddenly on edge, _waiting_. They needn't concern themselves. Despite appearances, Katarina quite liked being alive, and could brag of a remarkably honed survival instinct. She just loved a little chaos. 

She didn't take her eyes from Irelia's, baring her teeth in a smile. "Go ahead. Slit my throat. Just remember that it will be your precious spit of an island that the Institute will blame."

Like most Ionians, Irelia's key weakness was her home's independence. Threaten that, and predictably, that prickly Ionian pride and sense of duty crushed what spirit they harboured. 

Irelia, however, hesitated a moment longer than Katarina had expected, the seconds stretching into what felt like an eternity.

"You're not worth it," Irelia said finally, but the catch in her voice spoke volumes - she so _wished_ otherwise. 

"You _are_ quite lively for a corpse, aren't you?" Katarina asked, and the blade at her throat trembled with barely restrained anger. 

Whatever natural response Irelia might have had would forever be a mystery - the doors behind Katarina's back shifted, one of them opening to allow them through to the summoning chambers beyond. 

With a visible effort, Irelia rallied herself, bringing herself back under control. She released Katarina's leathers with a jerk, the blade returning to her side, her gaze neutral and fixed elsewhere. 

"Just stay out of my way," Irelia told Katarina, her voice dark no matter the sudden impassivity of her expression. She slipped into the summoning chambers without another word. 

Katarina watched her go, suddenly aware of the warm blood at her throat, cool air stinging in the fresh cut. She dabbed at it with two fingers, cursing herself for having allowed it. However... that had been a very interesting response she'd provoked. Having never encountered the Captain of the Ionian Guard previously, all she'd had to rely on had been reports and hearsay. 

And really, none of them had quite conveyed... the sense of darkness that lain behind Irelia's eyes. 

Katarina smiled. It appeared Irelia was far more entertaining than she'd expected.

###

For something that Katarina had written off completely, the ensuing match against Demacia had been nothing short of _delightful_. With a summoner in her head and League sanctions staying her blades, the Ionian Captain of the Guard had been thrust into the midst of Noxians she would have otherwise wished death on. The look on Irelia's face as she cut down Garen in a deadly whirlwind of steel - it had been frozen, barely controlled rage. 

Irelia had suffered for her challenge, for her thirst for 'justice'. It had been _perfect._

Even better, Katarina's current summoner - she cared little for their names - had apparently shared her own penchant for a stolen kill, and it had been Irelia her summoner had targeted. Not to the exclusion of all else, but it was enough that she hadn't been able to help but gloat internally. By the time Demacia's nexus had fallen, Katarina had almost lost count of all the times she'd flashed out from the shadows, her knives ending lives before Irelia's blades could sweep in for the kill. 

Really, a victory and a match full of entertainment at Irelia's expense - Katarina couldn't have asked for anything better.

Quite satisfied with the day's events, Katarina followed her summoner from the chambers, unable to help casting Irelia a sidelong glance. The other woman was stone-faced, but there was a telling, deep-set tension in the set to her shoulders as she led her summoner away. 

The summoner - some freelancer upstart from Bilgewater - still looked decidedly uncomfortable with both her champion's mental state and her company with a group of summoners with decidedly Noxian ties. 

Katarina smiled, highly amused at the woman's unease - and that was when her own summoner paused. Katarina halted with her, impatient. They had plenty to discuss, regardless of the match's positive outcome. The summoner could mock the freelancer on her own damn time - Katarina was done toying with Irelia. 

"You balanced the strategy well," Katarina's summoner said, waiting for the others to file past, before falling in step with the freelancer. 

_The strategy..._ Katarina repeated, her irritation fading into what felt disturbingly like confusion. She favoured her summoner with a narrow, tense stare - and was entirely ignored in favour of the freelancer. 

Katarina had been well aware of the tactic her summoner had used - to strike from the shadows, to take kills that would have rightly been attributed to Irelia's count. She'd been able to glean that shallow understanding from her summoner's mind, and yet...

"I wasn't sure how well it would work," the freelancer answered, continuing down the Institute's hallway. "You were right. They match up remarkably well --"

Katarina froze mid-stride, her confusion igniting into white hot outrage in an instant. It wasn't so much the idea of her summoner helping Irelia's, that they'd hashed out some sort of rudimentary tactic that had worked. A victory was a victory, after all. 

No, it was that Katarina had allowed herself to be duped. It was the _principle_ of it. She'd always prided herself on her intelligence, and yet the complexities of the plan had passed over her head entirely.

She'd been working alongside Irelia the entire time, and she hadn't had a goddamn inkling. She watched the summoners proceeding down the hallways, listening to them discussing further tactical modifications to their little gambit. 

Across the narrow hallway, Irelia slowly rested a hand on her hip, her dark eyes intense on Katarina's. The curve of her lips - just subtle, but there - was savage and self-satisfied. Without a further word, Irelia turned and left Katarina alone.

Katarina watched the woman's retreat, her lips baring in a helpless snarl. Irelia had some fucking _nerve._

At least the insanity was over.

###

To Katarina's dismay, the fiasco was not, in fact, over. For a match that practically nobody would have bothered watching, a truly disturbing number of summoners appeared to have caught the match's replay on the Institute's screens that night. Apparently, a bit of a spectator sport had sprung up around all the political wrangling. 

In another circumstance, perhaps Katarina might have been amused. Instead, not even a week after that _team-up_ , one thing had become horrifyingly clear.

What had happened in the rift was not going to stay in the rift. Katarina's compatibility with Irelia - her lip curled at the very thought - had been noted by the summoner community at large. Now, thanks to the original two fools, Katarina had been approached no less than five times by summoners.

Apparently, seeing a Noxian fight at the side of an Ionian was a novel experience. 

Of course, she'd vetoed every request with a venom that would have had even Cassiopeia envious, and the latests instance had been no different. Slamming the summoner's door shut behind her, she swore under her breath. At least she could be confident she'd frightened the man enough that he'd refrain from making such an idiotic request in the future. 

Satisfying as that was, she very much doubted it would work to stem all the requests. The disgusting reality of the situation was that she and Irelia had become the flavour of the month - and that damn Ionian seemed hellbent on making things _worse_. 

Her lip curled as she swept through the halls, her anger galvanising and focusing her. While she could do little to deal with the requests, there _was_ something she could deal with. 

_So, Irelia wants to play games with me,_ Katarina thought, shoving her way through the next set of doors without pause. She ignored a set of summoners waving for her attention, but her jaw tightened. Her fingers itching for the weight of her knives. 

_She'll learn._

###

Just because Irelia was insisting on rudimentary mindgames, did not mean she was any less predictable. Katarina found her in the western wing of the Institute, occupying the hall usually reserved for Ionia's champions. The sparsely-decorated room was empty but for Irelia, who was sharpening her blades at one of the benches with nothing but telekinesis. 

The steady sound of steel moving across water stones was intrusively loud in the heavily silence. Katarina didn't falter as her gaze settled on Irelia's back, an icy calm settling over her as she strode over. She'd allowed this Ionian to get under her skin a little too successfully - her own lack of control made her stomach turn. 

So instead of lashing out at Irelia, just the way she wanted to, she waited. Unfortunately, Irelia had much the same plan, and the damn sound of the woman's blades on water stones didn't pause for a moment. 

It set her nerves on edge, filled her with nothing but tension. 

"Sharpening your sword in public? Doesn't that come with an indecency charge?" Katarina asked, resting her hand on her hip, smirking in Irelia's direction, willing the woman to rise and take the bait as expected. 

Irelia didn't glance up, merely continuing to work. Katarina's jaw tightened. 

"I'll keep this simple," Katarina continued. She drew the words out slowly, as though Irelia would struggle to understand. "Why the hell are _you_ agreeing to these matches?"

She tossed the crumpled-up parchment onto Irelia's bench - the latest summoner request for a team-up. The contract for five matches had already been signed by Irelia, as had the five requests before that. That was her game, each and every time, when she had just as many reasons to refuse as Katarina. 

Irelia didn't even look down at the contract, instead focused entirely on her task. It was as though Katarina wasn't even there - there was _nothing_ that pissed her off more.

" _Look._ I don't have time to waste on... whatever the hell it is you think you're doing." Katarina's lip curled, and she leaned against the bench, so that her face was just a hand span from Irelia's. 

The sound of the blade against stone faltered, and Irelia's expression flickered for just a moment. The emotion smoothed away almost immediately, the sharpening continuing, as though Katarina had never baited a reaction at all. 

Katarina leaned further in, bracing both hands on the carved wooden workbench. "Don't try to attempt your pathetic Ionian mind games with me. I know this whole thing pisses you off, too."

She _knew_ Ionians, for all that Irelia played games she would not win. The requests would bring her nothing but a sense of dishonour - nothing but the same dark rage Katarina had glimpsed before their forced team-up. The telekinetically controlled blade paused. 

"I agree to the matches," Irelia said, her voice cool and clipped. There was the hint of a smile on her lips, just as vicious as the last one had been. "Because it's exactly what _you_ do not want."

"You think I'd batt an eyelid at having to deal with you for five matches? Please." Katarina's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms against her chest. "If you think for one minute that -"

Irelia _laughed_ , a single, harsh note in the silence of the hall. Her dark eyes were impossibly cold when they flickered up to Katarina's - and there it was, the rage. A thrill ran down Katarina's spine at the sight of it.

Then she connected the dots. So. Irelia did not believe that Katarina would sign the contract, that she'd never concede to the requests. After all, Noxians did not team up with Ionians - that was the natural order of Runeterra. 

It was galling that Irelia believed she knew Katarina so well. Even worse, until that very moment, the woman had been correct. 

_I won't allow myself to be bested by an Ionian._ Katarina reached out, taking the balled up parchment in hand once more, smoothing it out without dropping her gaze from Irelia's. She only looked down long enough to sign the dotted line on the match contract with the quill she'd drawn from her belt. 

Finally, she looked up, forcing her mouth into a rictus of a smile, no matter her own white-hot rage. Irelia's expression had gone stony, her lips pressed in a thin line. 

"Don't look so upset," Katarina told Irelia, pushing herself off the workbench and stretching. She paid no mind to the blades circling dangerously overhead. "Two can play at this game."

The steady, forceful sharpening only continued, dogging Katarina's footsteps as she left the hall. She smiled.

###

The first of their contracted battles arrived far too soon, and at least the idiot summoners had specified that they were not to fight for their usual factions. While Katarina might have relished the idea of forcing Irelia to fight for Noxus yet again, the reverse would have been insufferable. 

As it was, Katarina had received more than enough raised eyebrows from High Command's lobbyists at the Institute. Even Jericho Swain himself had deigned to pull her aside, testing her motivations for signing up for such an alliance - though of course he'd never admit as much.

The matches wouldn't interfere with Noxian interests, Katarina had told him. No matter how he'd interrogated her, she still hadn't disclosed the exact matches assigned - she had no desire for Swain to _make_ their outcomes national concerns. 

He needn't have worried. She and Irelia had been drafted to fight for Bilgewater's interests, though that satisfied Katarina far more than it had Irelia. A contract was a contract, and if Irelia had qualms about representing a nation well known for pillaging her own, well, perhaps she should have read the thing before she signed. 

Judging by the dark looks the woman kept casting Katarina, as they and the rest of the Bilgewater representatives waited in the preparation rooms, Irelia still hadn't forgiven her for calling said bluff. Katarina looked beyond Miss Fortune's shoulder and answered the next Irelia's glares with a smirk. 

Irelia's eyes narrowed, a predictable response as usual - but then she shrugged, approaching Katarina with slow strides. 

That was... unusual. Irelia never willingly joined Katarina, preferring to instead avoid her. Even when she'd attempted to provoke Katarina, she had not sought a direct confrontation. The change in method set Katarina's nerves on edge, and grudgingly, she stayed her conversation with Miss Fortune. 

Irelia stopped just to Katarina's left, a pace or so behind her. To her irritation, Katarina had to turn slightly to keep an eye on the woman, far too wary to allow her to move unrestricted. 

"You look pleased. I cannot help but wonder the cause." Irelia's voice was deceptively mild, especially for somebody who took resentment and rage to a whole other level.

Katarina merely shrugged, still watching Irelia over her shoulder. "The way you continue to get yourself roped into representing nations you loathe... It's all so tragically inept." 

Irelia's blank expression shifted into one that was distinctly unamused. "The only tragic thing I can see is your inability to make your own kills."

Katarina's smirk faded immediately, and she was barely able to hold a proper leash on her anger. Irelia would question _her_? 

"Watch your tongue, Ionian," she bit out from between clenched teeth. "I may just see the need to cut it out."

Irelia tilted her head slightly, crossing her arms. Her blades hovered at her side, constantly shifting, the only evidence of their wielder's unrest. Her voice was dry and bland when she finally spoke. 

"I'll enjoy watching you rely on Ionia's strength today. How that must shame you."

Katarina turned to Irelia fully. The idea of toying with the woman suddenly the furthest thing from her mind as her very strength and skill was called into question. 

"No more than being forced to deal with a corpse," Katarina snapped after a moment, her voice tight. Her hands had curled reflexively to fists - the only reason she hadn't reached for her knives. 

"I realise it's not the Noxian way to request assistance, but you may rest assured." Irelia leaned in, just as Katarina herself had done countless times before. "I am happy to help you finally make a kill."

Katarina felt her hackles stir, and she advanced a step. Every fibre of her body trembled in outrage, and she itched to use it. Just who did Irelia take her for? Some novice assassin yet to whet her blades? 

"Do not make the mistake of underestimating me, Ionian."

Irelia's smile faded into blankness, and she countered, "Then grant me the same respect, _Noxian._ "

Katarina wasn't sure when she'd drawn her knife - only that one moment her hands had been clenched into fists, the next, she'd been armed. She didn't look down at the weapon, holding Irelia's dark, steady gaze. She could not allow herself to flicker for this woman, not for a moment. 

She longed to lash out, though. She wanted nothing more. 

From somewhere behind Katarina - having been dismissed entirely - Miss Fortune cleared her throat delicately. Katarina's attention snapped back to the other woman, away from Irelia, away from the battle she'd needed to win. 

Forget knifing Irelia - Katarina was sorely tempted to shed some of Miss Fortune's blood for that particular transgression. She looked back to Irelia, but the crucial moment had passed her by. The damn woman was smiling again as she turned away, apparently satisfied with whatever shallow victory she thought she'd won. 

Beyond her, the doors to the summoning chambers were swinging open, and the time for counters and games was gone. Katarina watched Irelia slip through the doors, loathing the confident length of the woman's stride, her eyes straying to the sway of her hips. In anyone else she might have admired such a centre of gravity, but in Irelia, it was just another thing to hate. 

She felt nothing but anger, hot and strangling. For somebody she'd dismissed as meaningless for so long... it was surprise that she'd grown to hate Irelia so quickly. 

"That was just a little tense," Miss Fortune said after a moment, and Katarina turned back to her with a scowl. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she told the other woman in a carefully disaffected drawl, sheathing her knife at her belt once more. She nodded for the summoning chambers. It would not do for Irelia to get it into her head that she'd cowed Katarina in any form.

Miss Fortune merely laughed at her response, dry and sardonic. 

"Of course you'd say that. You never change." Miss Fortune followed Katarina's lead, casting her a sidelong look as they walked. "But it looks to me you're in need of some serious... stress release."

Katarina didn't bother looking at her, for all Miss Fortune's words might have normally sent heat straight down her spine. Her mind was fixed far too firmly on the problem of Irelia - and her developing poor attitude. Still, given the bone-deep tension still thrumming through her... perhaps Miss Fortune was onto something. 

"If you're offering, we'll talk after the match." Katarina's lip curled in spite of her best efforts. "I have an Ionian to put back in her place."

Miss Fortune laughed again at her comment, louder this time, as though Katarina had told her a wonderful joke. 

Of course, at the time, Katarina hadn't understood that Miss Fortune had not meant with her. She'd meant with Irelia.

###

In the week before the fifth - and final - match that Katarina had been contracted to deal with Irelia, she had a chance to return home to Noxus. After dealing with the usual bureaucratic red tape of reporting to High Command, this time pertaining more to her ongoing dealings with Bilgewater, the Captain of the Ionian Guard and the state of play with summoners at the Institute, Katarina had finally made her way back to the Du Couteau mansion. 

Talon, of course, was on an extended mission. Katarina hadn't been informed of the details of it, which was for the best, but her adoptive brother had always been helpful in allowing her to vent her anger in less... property-damaging ways. On the other hand, Cassiopeia was home, and it was in search of a good distraction that Katarina made her way up to her sister's private rooms. 

Even climbing the long, winding staircase, Katarina still could not help but dwell on all that weighed on her mind. 

Throughout her contracted fights alongside Irelia, something had become incredibly clear. As much as it galled Katarina, their initial, unknowing team up had not been the fluke she'd somewhat expected. The summoners had been correct after all. She and Irelia worked well together, no matter how insufferable the Ionian herself was to work with. 

That would have been clear even to a blind fool.

No matter how many infuriating remarks Irelia made, no matter how distasteful the whole thing was, Katarina was Noxian enough to understand the virtue of strength alone. After all, she'd worked alongside Draven for long enough in the League - she appreciated power, no matter how questionable the source. 

She would not be a complete idiot about it. 

Katarina's thoughts seemed to be always preoccupied with Irelia - going over what they'd said to one another in their last match against Bandle City, and their upcoming dispute with the Shadow Isles. She thought on every tactic they'd used, both alone and together, every movement that Irelia made. She could describe each memory in vivid, biting detail without effort. 

After all, Irelia's poor attitude and ongoing infuriating behaviour was a problem that needed solving. Katarina was not going to rest until she'd won. 

She entered Cassiopeia's chambers, her gaze immediately falling on her sister's coiled form at the window. Cassiopeia was looking down at the streets below the mansion, her sharpened nails drumming a rapid tempo on the windowsill, but her expression was otherwise serene. 

Cassiopeia had initially been quite reclusive following her change. On a level, Katarina had been able to understand it - if she'd suddenly been unable to serve Noxus with the blade, she may have drifted for a time too - but ultimately she'd met such behaviour with distaste. 

It was only now - only after their father had 'disappeared' - that Cassiopeia had shaken herself free of her self-pity and climbed back onto the political intrigue bandwagon. 

Personally, Katarina thought that was for the best - Cassiopeia had a far sharper mind for that sort of thing. While Katarina had maintained her own spy networks throughout Runeterra for years, as the new head of the Du Couteau household, she'd inherited her father's watchers, too. 

When Cassiopeia had finally asked after them, Katarina had been only too happy to hand over the reins - to her own flesh and blood, anyway. 

With that outlet - that sense of purpose - Cassiopeia had thrived. In the months following the transfer of authority, her sister seemed stronger. She was certainly less afraid of her own skin, less doubtful of her abilities, and far more Noxian than she'd been in a long while. 

Admittedly, Katarina was somewhat proud of her.

"Any news?" Katarina asked, not bothering to specify what she was referring to. It was better that she did not - the walls had ears in all the most inconvenient of places. 

"Unfortunately not." Cassiopeia didn't look toward Katarina, crossing her arms, her coils shifting tighter. "There had been reports of witnesses, though you know exactly what fate they have all met."

Katarina didn't answer her sister - she cursed under her breath and her hand moving in a blur. Three knives embedded themselves in the ornate wooden frame of one of Cassiopeia's paintings. 

"Temper, temper," Cassiopeia said, casting Katarina a flat look over her shoulder. "My paintings have done nothing to you."

Katarina laughed under her breath at the mild rebuke, approaching her sister's position slowly and leaning against the windowsill. 

"Don't _you_ start with me." Katarina sighed, casting a look up the city streets to where Noxus' seat of power lay above it all. "I've had High Command on my back all damn month -"

"And we both know whose fault that was." Cassiopeia turned to Katarina fully, her coils shifting and moving on the carpeted flor of her chambers. Of course she was smirking, Katarina noted with some small amount of ire. 

Katarina loved Cassiopeia, she really did, but her sister had had a fearsome reputation before her change for a very good reason. She could play games with the best of them, and for that she was as dangerous as they came. Cassiopeia's newfound use as spymaster really _had_ dragged her back out of her shell, if she thought to turn her 'innocent observations' on Katarina. 

"Perhaps if that Ionian had thought more than one step ahead," Katarina told Cassiopeia, crossing her arms and meeting her sister's bright gaze with a scowl. "Then I would not be in such a poor position."

Cassiopeia made a small sound of agreement, each of her sharpened nails drumming again on the windowsill. 

"It's true she signed the contract first. But you locked the deal in." Cassiopeia paused for a moment, her smirk only growing. "One could almost say it's actually _your_ fault."

"Now you're sounding like _her_." Katarina's jaw tightened, her scowl darkening. "Just when I thought you were acting Noxian again."

Cassiopeia's smirk became a smile then. "I'm so glad you've noticed."

Katarina sighed at her sister's obvious delight at the comment. "Fine. Perhaps I did have a hand in it. What's your point?"

"Just that you seem to be quite..." Cassiopeia tapped her chin with a claw, as if in deep thought. "Yes, that's it. Fixated on this Ionian."

Katarina snorted under her breath, not bothering to question her sister's assessment of the situation. "What can I say? She's getting beyond her place."

"And well and truly under your skin," Cassiopeia finished for her with a nonchalant shrug. "Oh Katarina, you are always so blind to yourself."

"Excuse me?" Katarina bit out, rounding on her sister, her anger spiking. "I'm just messing with her head."

"Are you quite certain it's not the other way around? You're fixated on her, and you're enjoying this whole set up, Katarina." Cassiopeia reached out to lay a cool hand on Katarina's shoulder, and had she been anyone else, she would have earned herself a knife in the ribs. "I can tell it from your voice alone. She intrigues you, when nothing has quite done the trick since our father..."

"Do not finish that thought, Cassiopeia." Katarina clenched her teeth, and blood sisters or not, her fingers twitched for one of her knives. 

Cassiopeia had always been a master of manipulation - she knew when to hold out and when to roll over. So when she finally dropped her gaze, turning back to look out onto the streets, Katarina knew better than to chalk it in as a victory. 

"That's the beauty of it, Katarina," Cassiopeia said after a long moment, and her voice was impossibly smug. "I hardly need to."

It took an effort to quash her outrage, but after a moment, Katarina managed to wrestle her wayward emotions back under control.

"You're full of it," Katarina said, her words a lazy, uninterested drawl. There was no way in hell she was going to let Cassiopeia know for certain that her words were hitting home. "If you've got no news and I'm going to be the target of your gossip, I'm going down to the taverns."

She turned and slowly made her way to the door, loath to allow Cassiopeia believe she was running away. As she reached the chamber doors, however, her sister spoke again. 

"Try not to get your face messed up in a bar brawl - you do have your last match with that Ionian this week."

Katarina's jaw clenched until it ached, though she didn't respond. She simply slammed the door behind her on her way out.

###

Katarina was still incensed with Cassiopeia's smug observations by the time she fronted up for her final match with Irelia. On one hand, she was pleased that the whole painful ordeal would be over soon enough. No matter how she was provoked, she would not be signing _any_ contract that forced her into such close proximity with someone so unbearable. 

Admittedly, Katarina had discovered small amusements throughout the entire fiasco. Irelia had well and truly proven herself to be far more interesting than the usual bland variety of Ionian - she reacted beautifully when provoked _just so_. 

The darkness in Irelia's eyes had not altered, for all that the woman had learned some iota of control for her temper. That rage was fascinating, the war between Ionian ideals for peace and balance completely at war with the the woman's unrelenting hatred and anger. 

Katarina wondered which would ultimately win out. As a tiny shiver ran down her spine, she knew which one she wanted to see. 

She glanced to the side, where Irelia was leaning against the preparation room walls, her arms crossed and her blades suspended at her hip. The woman was watching her, Katarina realised with a prickle of annoyance, a tiny smile on her lips that never quite reached her eyes. 

Katarina's jaw firmed, and she didn't respond to the obvious bait, simply continuing to examine her blades. Inside, she seethed. How the hell could a smile be so infuriating? The woman was practically begging for Katarina to lean in and wipe that smirk off with a well-placed hook. 

Irelia was not... _unattractive_ , especially for an Ionian. Katarina could concede that much. The ornate armour she wore fit her well, and her unique abilities with her blades were practiced to perfection in a way Katarina might have otherwise respected. Then again, Irelia was honed in body just as she was in mind, and -

Katarina's gaze lingered on the infuriating curve of Irelia's lips for a moment too long, an intoxicating heat suffusing her that was one part anger, one part hate, and one part Noxian weakness for real strength. 

She looked down at the knife in her hands, her fingers wrapped around the hilt so tightly her bones ached all the way up to her elbow. Finally, she exhaled sharply with a low groan. 

Cassiopeia may have been correct. Katarina was... attracted to a damn Ionian. 

Irelia, however, seemed entirely oblivious to that fact. She leaned forward slightly, her smirk deepening as she rested a hand on her hip.

"Starting to flag, Katarina?" Irelia asked, and no matter her bland tone, it was impossible to miss the undercurrent of smugness.

Katarina bared her teeth, tossing her knife up and catching it by the weighted hilt. "Don't be absurd." 

Then her eyes narrowed, cutting back to Irelia immediately. That was the kicker, wasn't it? Irelia _didn't know_ , because if Katarina hadn't figured it out, there was no way in hell an emotionally compromised corpse would have gotten there first. 

Irelia hated Katarina at least as much as Katarina hated her. If she found out that Katarina had warped the whole thing into some sort of idiotic attraction, then...

Katarina's scowl sharpened into a smile. Any feelings of shame she might have felt for having been attracted to an Ionian faded away into a whole new array of opportunities. 

If Irelia thought she'd won, that she'd successfully gotten under Katarina's skin... there was still one thing that would well and truly throw her into chaos. 

And really, she was not above using it.

###

Katarina laughed and flashed to the right, just as Irelia lunged forward and engaged Yorick in a whirlwind of singing steel. Satisfied her retreat was covered, Katarina darted backwards a few strides, before turning half a step and sending one of her throwing knives arcing for Yorick's face. 

The man raised his wide shovel to defend the attack, fracturing his attention between the two of them. The Ionian thankfully didn't fumble the opportunity Katarina had practically gift-wrapped, her blades whipping out to cut Yorick down in an instant.

Katarina sent a boot into the gravedigger's side, just to be certain Irelia had actually killed him. When he didn't so much as flinch, she looked up with a satisfied smirk. For all her flaws, at least Irelia was a little more thorough than Darius. 

When Katarina finally looked up, Irelia had turned her back, surveying the forest around them with a bored expression. She looked comfortable, and that was something Katarina was not going to stand for. 

"Hm," Katarina said, drawing the word out almost thoughtfully. She slipped another of her knives from her sleeve, tapping the flat of it against the gloved palm of her hand. "For a moment there, I was certain Yorick was going to try to bury you. He sees a lot of your kind in his line of work, you realise."

Irelia didn't so much as twitch, but tellingly she was looking everywhere except Katarina. She looked slightly dishevelled from their latest kill, dirt and loose grass clinging to the grooves of her armour. Cooling blood streaked her forehead and hair - Yorick had managed to score a hit on her with his shovel. 

Katarina, of course, had been delighted to witness that blow to her 'ally's' pride - right before his backswing had caught _her_ in the chin. She reached up to rub at her jaw, moving it to test for any lasting damage. 

"You never do know when a joke has worn its welcome out." Irelia looked at her then, her expression blank, but her eyes held their usual anger. "If you don't learn to hold your tongue, I may break your jaw myself just to find a measure of peace."

"As if you'd manage." Katarina twitched as she heard movement from beyond the undergrowth. Without waiting for Irelia to react, she let her knife fly free. She smiled as she heard somebody scream, and she made a show of dusting her hands off. "Really. Your face says it all. You've come to enjoy our little sessions."

"'Enjoy' is drastically overstating it," Irelia replied, her tone still flat and infuriatingly dry. "I do appreciate a chance to undermine that disgusting Noxian self-superiority, however."

"Is that what you call it?" Katarina turned back to Irelia, pleased to find that the woman's attention was finally where it belonged. It was high time to bring this _game_ to a close while the opposing team regrouped. 

She stepped closer, slowly and deliberately, closing the distance between them. It was unsurprising when Irelia held her ground. The woman merely crossed her arms, looking down her nose as Katarina approached, stoic even as every precious inch was whittled away. 

Katarina only stopped when she was right in close - she could practically taste the other woman's warmth, sweat and blood on her tongue, and an unexpected shiver ran through her.

She did so love Irelia's defiance. 

"Is that all you... appreciate?" Katarina asked, fully mindful that their summoners would be watching with great interest. She'd already weighed her options and found she didn't give a damn. She cast her eye up and down Irelia's person, letting it linger and cling to the curve of her hips, the swell of her breasts. "Exactly _what_ did you think this was about, Irelia?"

It was far from true, but in Katarina's line of work, facts were not much more than an inconvenience. So long as it served its purpose...

Irelia's eyes shot wide with surprise and pure, unadulterated outrage, and she backed away half a step. Even that much of a concession had to have burned her pride, a testament to just how badly Katarina's words had caught her off-guard. Katarina had to stifle the urge to laugh. 

_Perfect._

Irelia stared at her for a long moment, her breathing laboured with something Katarina couldn't quite determine. Was it horror, fear or simply a little more of that fascinatingly dark rage? Whatever the case was, Irelia was certainly having trouble processing beinging an object of a Noxian's desire. 

Oh, this was well worth all the lewd comments Katarina was certain to get from Draven for the rest of forever -

Irelia lunged for her. She could have dodged, sprang away to continue to taunt from afar, but Katarina allowed herself to be dragged in by the collar of her jacket. She merely offering Irelia a languid smile - and that struck a far more potent blow than any blade or venomous remark. 

"Do you find this to be a game?" Irelia demanded in a low hiss, as though this moment was not being broadcast to their summoners and all who watched the match. Her eyes were furious, and her through her grasp, Katarina could feel her muscles trembling. The blade suddenly at the small of Katarina's back quivered - _weak_.

This was the reaction Katarina had wanted - or what she'd _thought_ she'd wanted. Perhaps she had been expecting better from Irelia. Perhaps she'd wanted something else after all? 

Disturbed at the direction her own thoughts had taken, Katarina shoved her way free of Irelia's grasp, her smile flickering to a far more comfortable sneer. She stayed close, though, the blade still at her back and reluctant to relinquish her victory just yet. 

"I find _everything_ about this a joke," Katarina told her, leaning forward. "Don't deny it. You've played your fair share of games."

Irelia swallowed, her jaw stubborn, rage screaming from every line of her body. But she didn't move and that meant something important. Katarina merely waited. Of course it was Irelia who blinked, Irelia who backed away slowly, her blades returning to her side. Her expression was impassive, but her eyes...

They were haunted. 

Katarina loved it, every second of glorious, horrified conflict she'd caused. Feeling deeply satisfied with herself and the outcome of her game, she watched Irelia turn away - but she had to wonder. What would have happened had Irelia not pulled away? 

What would bedding that particular Ionian have been like?

A heat started up in Katarina's stomach at the irritatingly persistent thought. She wanted to know - and that disturbed her.

###

Irelia was avoiding her. 

It was an entirely predictable response, if Katarina was feeling charitable enough to be fair at all. The woman was nothing if not proud, and she had been dealt a decisive blow in what had, up to that point, been an even conflict. While unsurprising, it was also entirely irritating - just when Katarina had come to expect a better class of opposition, everything went and fell apart. 

Perhaps it wasn't so much as irritating as it was disappointing, but the facts were as they were. 

With the conclusion of their contract, there no reason for their paths to cross at the Institute outside of matches, and Irelia had gone to ground. Katarina hadn't bothered seeking the other woman out, and she certainly did not stoop to asking after her. She had no desire to assign the woman a role of anything other than that of a plaything, though...

It was foolish to continue such a line of thought, regardless. Katarina was both a pragmatist and an opportunist. "What-if" was of little use to her. If Irelia was not interested, then where exactly was the fun?

Katarina was still in a foul mood by the time she arrived back in her Institute chambers. She'd just managed to slip away from yet another interrogation masquerading as conversation from Darius, but when she slammed her way insider her rooms, two things immediately became apparent. The first thing was that somebody had been at her wine, leaving an empty goblet behind on the otherwise immaculately clean table. As the sole occupant of the room, Katarina knew for a fact she'd not left such a mess.

The other was that one of the flagstones to the back of the room had loosened, and now lay unevenly amongst its fellows.

One of those indicators would have been met with raised eyebrow and a shrug. The both of them? It set her on edge, because that was the very combination she and Cassiopeia had agreed upon when either of them came upon real information regarding the disappearance of their father. 

Katarina closed the door behind her with a soft click, before moving toward the wine rack on the side wall. Her fingertips moved feverishly over the paper labels, turning the bottles slightly until she found the one she knew for certain she'd never bought. 

Snagging the bottle up, she crossed back to the table, muttering under her breath about timing. She uncorked it with a twist of one of her knives, and shook the tightly rolled note from Cassiopeia free. She unrolled it with hasty hands, barely waiting to flatten it out before beginning to read. 

Of course, that was before she recognised exactly what the message was about. 

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Katarina muttered under her breath, pausing to pinch the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. That signal was meant to be used for real information, not... idle _gossip_.

_My contacts in Ionia have reported that the Captain has returned home, following your stunt in front of all Valoran. I can't help but notice that it's hardly gotten you what you wanted._

_Perhaps I can assist._

_Rumour has it that Chancellor Hawkmoon is lodging a dispute with Ionia regarding the treatment of Noxian stewards following the release of the island. I have no doubt you know what to do._

_\- C_

Katarina leaned back, her lips pressed into a flat line. She was going to have to do something truly awful to Cassiopeia when she got home - her sister knew better than to abuse what was meant to be a secret method of communication. Meddling in Katarina's affairs was not something she tolerated. 

Then again, considering the news...

Thoughtful, Katarina looked back down to the note on the table, curled up on itself once more. While Katarina was far from willing to expend effort on what was ultimately a fruitless pursuit, Cassiopeia had a point. Irelia had never really had her chance at spilling Katarina's blood on the Rift, having had that goal thwarted at every turn. 

It would _truly_ be a shame if Irelia never got her chance to settle whatever score she wished. 

Perhaps Katarina could use that.

###

The Ionian listing for the dispute with Noxus was still in flux, even the day before the match. Only a few names had been confirmed by the administration staff - none of them holding any particular interest for Katarina. 

It seemed as though Irelia had not taken the bait that had been practically shoved in her face, but Katarina knew better than to believe that absence of confirmation was not confirmation of absence. 

Irelia was stubborn in a way few could boast, and her anger and thirst for vengeance was not something that could be so easily set aside by a little... discomfort.

Even so, the decided lack of response was concerning, and Katarina had been tempted to watch the official Ionian contingent arrive. She quickly dismissed the notion - even a casual appearance would signal her heightened interest in Irelia, and she was reluctant to compromise herself in such a useless fashion. She could find her answers through far less pathetically obvious routes. 

In the hours leading up to the match, Katarina slipped her way inside the Ionian wing of the Institute. 

For a nation that prided itself on skills of observation, it was boringly simplistic to maintain a low profile. Even a Demacian border keep tested her further! Using timing, shadows, unlocked doors and no small helping of shunpo, Katarina managed to slip detection, evading every champion she crossed paths with. 

She wove her way through the Ionian wing, quickly checking hallways and rooms for a sign of the obstinate woman held her interest so. Katarina had only just evaded Shen when finally she heard a low voice from around the next corner. 

Katarina paused, pressing herself back up against the wall, recognising the owner of the voice immediately. She'd dealt with Karma before, and she'd loathed every moment that she'd been forced to spend within the Duchess' presence. The woman's maddening, holier-than-thou attitude and overall blandness had exemplified everything that Katarina disliked about Ionians. 

Her eyes narrowed. Still, it was rather telling that Karma had seen fit to emerge from her ongoing political wrangling with both Zed and Syndra. Apparently the upcoming match had some meaning to her. 

"--you know my stance on this, Captain. I cannot in good conscience allow it," Karma was saying, and there was an undercurrent of tension in her voice. That was... unusual. Katarina tilted her head, her curiosity piqued. 

"With all due respect, your Grace, but it's far too late to coddle me." The next speaker's voice was also familiar, and was as cool and unyielding as steel.

The corner of Katarina's lips turned up in a smirk. So. Irelia _had_ decided to return to the Institute, and if she had gone to such troubles already, there was no way the woman would miss the match. 

"This is not coddling, Captain," Karma was telling Irelia, and if anything, her voice had grown even tighter. "This is protection."

"And yet it amounts to just the same."

Katarina could have laughed. So that had been why the listing had yet to be formalised! One could always trust that boring old Karma would be upset when one of her prized underlings finally decided to have a little... unconventional Noxian-brand fun. 

And from the sounds of it, Irelia was chafing under Karma's moral superiority. 

"I realise I should have stepped in earlier, intervened in the contract." Karma did sound sorry, as though she truly blamed herself for whatever conflict that had arisen between them. "She is toxic - not atypical for a Noxian, but the Sinister Blade is worse than most."

"Your concern is understandable, your Grace." Irelia's voice was bland, in very much the same way it was when she responded to one of Katarina's more irritating barbs. "My wishes do not change. I will fight her. I must."

"But why _must_ you?" Karma demanded, apparently unable to understand Irelia's sudden insistence on participating in the match. 

Katarina's spies had always confirmed that the political alliance between the Duchess and her Captain was one of the strongest bonds Ionia had to offer. They always presented a united front. To suddenly find themselves at odds over something so insignificant, that it caused such a rift... 

Irelia had been silent for a long time, though. Katarina crossed her arms, frowning to herself. Waiting. 

"Because if I don't feel this... the anger and hate and -" Irelia cut off. Her voice was heavy and strained, as though the admission and the conflict with Karma pained her. Finally, she asked, "Then what do I feel?"

Silence met Irelia's words for a moment. When Karma broke it, her voice was quiet and dismayed. 

"Irelia. She is taking you down a far darker path than you realise."

"That's what you've never wished to admit, Karma." Katarina heard Irelia sigh, long and low. "I've been walking it for years."

Katarina was long gone before the conversation was over, moving quickly through the hallways and back toward the Noxian rooms. She didn't bother suppressing the smirk on her lips, delighted with the details of the conversation she'd overheard.

She'd been right. Irelia was certainly one of the most interesting Ionians she'd ever come across.

###

Katarina was still feeling entirely self-satisfied with herself by the time she began to make her way down to the business end of the Institute. She trailed after Sion and Draven, maintaining at least some distance from her Noxian teammates so as not to ruin her good mood. Sion was not so bad, but Draven...

Just as predicted, Draven had been entirely unbearable since that match against the Shadow Isles. The man simply did not know when to quit - he'd made at least a dozen ill-advised jokes about necrophilia in the preceding week alone. 

Of course, it hadn't mattered that he was completely correct in Katarina's intentions toward Irelia, even now. She'd still given him an impressive black eye in a brawl the night prior, and she was certain Swain would have a fit when treasury received the Institute's repair bill for the bar. 

At least he was maintaining proper silence now. 

They had already reached the grand entrance to the Institute when Katarina heard Draven laugh under his breath. Apparently she'd relaxed too soon. She favoured the back of his head with a glare, wondering if it was too late to make him _hurt_. 

He looked over his shoulder with a shrug, his teeth bared in a grin. "Looks like you're in luck, Du Couteau. Just try to save a little for the match."

Katarina didn't rise to the bait, but between Sion and Draven she spied movement. It seemed as though Karma and Irelia were slowly making their way to the summoning chambers, too. 

_Perfect timing._ Katarina's smirk was, admittedly, a little vicious. 

Not even bothering to break her stride, Katarina's gaze fell on Karma first - the woman's expression was as blank and boring as expected. 

Perhaps if Katarina had not been witness to a certain conversation just hours prior, she might have been fooled. Now, as Katarina searched for the more... subtle tells, it was clear that Karma was very much a woman who had not gotten her way. 

Karma met her gaze steadily for the most part, unafraid of Katarina or her reputation - but then her eyes flickered to Irelia. It was just once, briefly, but that glance was incredibly telling. For all her wisdom, it seemed that Karma still did not know what to do about her wayward ally. 

Katarina dismissed Karma from her attention as she continued up the hall after Draven and Sion, her eyes roving Irelia just quickly. The woman had stepped forward, perhaps to protect Karma or bar Katarina's path, but there was certainly something different about her already. 

For a change, Irelia looked alive, practically thrumming with tension and eagerness to fight. Even meeting those narrowed dark eyes for just a moment, Katarina could feel the other woman's tension as though it were her own. And really, it _was_. She'd been so intent on drawing Irelia out, on sating her own curiosity, she'd neglected one thing. 

She'd been dying for a chance to face Irelia, too. 

Regardless of her realisation, Katarina held her tongue, simply moving on up the hallway, following Draven and Sion closely. It was only when they reached the end of the hallway and the doors to the Noxian preparation rooms that she finally allowed herself to look back. 

Irelia was still watching her, motionless in the grand entrance. Even from a distance, she was all fury, hatred, and perfect, conflicted desire in a breathtaking, all-consuming _mess._

Katarina felt warmth spread through her body, sharp and demanding. She ignored it, continuing on into the preparation chambers with a lazy, knowing smirk on her lips.

###

Katarina's summoner this match, allocated by Noxus' lobby, had obviously been selected for his magic strength alone. Fortunately for her purposes, he was also rather weak-minded, and it only took a few careful words in his ear to extract a promise or two. 

"Don't interfere," she'd told him, her smile a well-practiced threat against everything he loved. "Or don't you believe that our victory hinges upon us successfully occupying the Captain?"

He upheld his end of the bargain, remaining a sequestered, unobtrustive presence at the back of her head as Katarina searched the forest as quickly as she was able. In the distance, she could hear the sound of explosions and laughter - she forced herself faster, intent upon one person alone. 

Encountering Shen proved nothing more than a mild irritation - Katarina had simply pivoted when he'd lunged from the shadows at her, dodged his follow up strike, and let her dagger find its home in his jugular. She'd barely stopped ling enough to check that he was dead before tearing onwards. 

Katarina's summoner was mildly suggesting a rendezvous with either Warwick or Draven when the hair stirred on the back of her neck, and she skidded to a halt and flipped backwards. 

Irelia's familiar blade formation sliced through the air that Katarina had occupied just a moment before. Katarina straightened, her melee knives already raised in a guard, her eyes following the streak of Irelia's blades as they returned to their owner. 

She listened to the crunch of twigs and gravel underfoot, slow and deliberate, and she couldn't quite suppress the full-body shiver that ran down her spine. 

Irelia stepped out into the open, her face impassive as her blades moved smoothly back to her side. She said nothing as she slid down into a stance Katarina was already so familiar with, one she knew had always meant trouble for their opponents. 

"It's good that you're finally taking this seriously," Katarina called out, her lips lifting in a smirk. She did so love a challenge. 

"Do not misunderstand, Katarina." Irelia's voice was cool, a perfect picture of calm and control. "I intend to make you pay for every last insult."

Katarina laughed, just once, but it was genuine. "I'll enjoy seeing you fail, Captain."

The feigned calmness in Irelia's eyes slipped away as her rage and hatred ignited, but there was more. Katarina was very familiar with destructive desire, and she made no move to hide her own gaze, letting it rove and linger on Irelia's body. 

This time, Irelia didn't recoil. She simply lifted her chin, smirking, and a second, white-hot thrill set Katarina's every nerve ending on fire. Lips baring in a snarl, Katarina flashed forward to finally settle the score with the only Ionian she cared about.

###

Noxus lost. 

Katarina knew that her interference with her summoner would probably come out the moment Hawkmoon turned up the heat during his resulting investigation into the defeat, but petty concerns from the Noxian lobby were the last thing on her mind. 

Irelia had proven herself a fearsome opponent - Katarina's skin still itched with dried blood and the memory of bisected in some very creative ways. Felling Irelia each time had taken all of Katarina's skill, and she'd ruthlessly exploited the woman's thirst for blood and vengeance to great success. 

While Katarina was confident she'd dished out as much pain as she'd been dealt herself, the loss still scorched her pride. Noxus had lost to Ionia yet again, and frankly she could not stomach the memory of vicious delight in Irelia's eyes. 

Katarina was the last to leave the Noxian preparation rooms, rolling her neck to work out some of the tension that had built up and fully intending to hit a shower - when she caught red and silver out the corner of her eye. She scowled. 

"What the hell do you want?" Katarina demanded, her irritation stirring as Irelia pushed herself away from the wall she'd been leaning on. "Come to gloat? My, my. Ionians really are human after all."

Irelia's expression tightened - Katarina had just enough time to wonder if she reach for her knives before the woman's blades lashed out. Freezing mid-step, Katarina lifted her chin as one of the blades came to rest under her jaw, another two pressed against her abdomen and the small of her back. The last hovered at Irelia's side, and as Katarina watched it, its movements seemed restless, almost... eager. 

She lifted her gaze to Irelia's once more, cracking an indulgent smile. 

"We've been through this. Wouldn't it be such a shame if Ionia's darling went on trial for murder -"

"I don't take you for a fool, Katarina," Irelia broke in, her voice sharp and cold. Her eyes were heated, though - fury and desire as one. 

Irelia stepped closer, so slowly that Katarina was forced to wait, to make it damn clear _who_ held the cards this time. Katarina felt her breath shorten as the blade under her throat pressed against her skin again, felt herself swallow. Irelia leaned in, so close that Katarina could feel warm breath on her sweat-dampened skin, and while she shivered, she did not drop her eyes from Irelia's. 

She was not going to bend knee to a damn Ionian. 

Irelia nodded to herself - and then shoved Katarina backwards. For a moment, Katarina was certain the idiot had finally thrown caution into the wind and decided to be rid of her once and for all. No pain or agony followed, and as she stumbled back into the empty Noxian preparation room, she rallied. 

Katarina's smile sharpened when she saw that Irelia's blades had moved back and out of the way - so _that_ was how the woman wanted to play it. She'd be more than happy to oblige. She pivoted as Irelia closed the distance between them again, evading the follow-up strike with ease and using her momentum to whirl in and under the woman's guard. 

Irelia grunted as Katarina's elbow slammed into her chin - her expression was almost disappointed when she took old of Katarina's shoulders and spun her straight back into the preparation room wall. Katarina groaned, hissing under her breath as stars danced before her eyes. Before she could move, Irelia slammed her back against the wall again, fingers digging into Katarina's shoulders, hard enough to bruise. 

Katarina pried an eyelid open, baring her teeth in a grin, daring Irelia to finally make her move - 

Irelia's lips against her own were harsh and hard, even by Noxian standards. It was a furious kiss born of hatred, anger and self-loathing _need_ , and Katarina couldn't quite recall how to breathe. She didn't bother stifling her groan as Irelia's teeth sank into her lower lip, exhaling sharply as she felt the skin break, felt Irelia's tongue lap at the split again and again. She parted her lips, desperate for more, and as Irelia allowed it, she could taste her own blood on -

It did _something_ to her head, sent heat roaring through her body until she ached with it. It was too much - she reached up, seizing hold of Irelia's chin in both hands. She pushed Irelia back, a savage grin finding its way onto her lips even as she struggled for breath. 

"What exactly do you want here, Captain?" Katarina demanded, knowing the answer but pressing for it regardless. It was better to hear it, that final capitulation, forcing Irelia to admit to all her twisted desire. She felt a spike of heat when Irelia's expression darkened, her eyes narrowing. 

"Don't feign innocence," Irelia growled, her grasp on Katarina's shoulders loosening just slightly -

Katarina seized her chance, dropping and slamming her shoulder, hard, into Irelia's solar plexis. The woman stumbled back a step, exhaling sharply - Katarina silently swore. Was that the only reaction such a strike would earn? She refused to be outdone, flashing forward, setting her leg behind the both of Irelia's and hooking her elbow around around Irelia's throat to throw her to the ground. 

Somewhere in the middle, though, Irelia had seized hold of Katarina's jacket. The moment she went down, Katarina followed - hard. She landed on Irelia awkwardly, scrambling to evade the woman's grapple. She twisted away and rolled to the side, reaching for a knife, but Irelia knocked it spinning to the other side of the room. She could hear Irelia breathing hard as she seized hold of Katarina's wrist and elbow. Planting one knee on Katarina's free arm and the other between Katarina's legs, Irelia began to twist the arm she held. 

Katarina snarled as the joints in her wrist, elbow and shoulder began to strain, but she held her tongue, desperate. Irelia didn't stop, though, and with a sick certainty, Katarina realised that the woman _would_ dislocate the whole lot of them. She couldn't move, couldn't worm her way out of Irelia's hold this time. 

There was no other goddamn _choice._

"I _give,_ " Katarina spat, her cheek still pressed into the preparation room carpet, her pride in shreds as she begged out of the hold for _Irelia_. She inhaled shakily, relieved as Irelia relaxed the twist slightly. Pain still shot through her wrist and elbow, the grasp about them as unforgiving as iron. 

Bested by Irelia yet again... Katarina gritted her teeth, lifting her head to stare balefully back at the other woman. 

"Not going to let me go?" Katarina asked, loathing the way her voice was still breathless. She gasped in pain as Irelia twisted her wrist slightly again - a tiny movement of her hand that sent shockwaves through each joint. 

"You only want one thing," Irelia replied, her voice mild. The thigh she'd planted between Katarina's legs shifted, pressing closer. Katarina inhaled shakily, suddenly very aware of how slick and aching she'd become at the promise of darkness and violence. She set her jaw, refusing to shamed by it. 

"Now who's feigning innocence?" Katarina demanded, canting her hips back into Irelia's armoured thigh, right until the pressure sent sparks all through her body. "You want it just as much as I do -"

She cut off with a groan as Irelia twisted her arm again, but it wasn't enough to dissuade her. 

"Admit it, you want me just as much as I want you, and you _hate_ it," Katarina ground out, her voice thick with pain and she still couldn't catch her breath. She bit back a sob as Irelia leaned forward, increasing the pressure on her shoulder. 

"And what if I do?" Irelia asked, her lips brushing the shell of Katarina's ear, her breath hot and heavy. Her weight shifted slightly, and she finally - _finally_ \- released Katarina's abused arm with a jerk. 

Katarina hissed under her breath as she recoiled, holding it close to her body as twinges of pain shot through all the joints. Her breath caught as Irelia's hands moved down her body, trailing down her bared abdomen and lower back before moving to work at the buckle of her belt. She swallowed, pressing her hips back into Irelia's thigh. 

Forget pretences and pride - she _needed_ Irelia to screw her already, and she offered no further resistance as the Ionian slid her hands down loosened leathers. 

The first touch of Irelia's cool fingers against her was rough, unforgiving and exactly what Katarina had fucking dreamed. She jolted, her cheek pressed into her forearm, and she couldn't quite stop herself from murmuring a wordless sigh of approval as those fingers slid against her.

Irelia was apparently in no mood to tease her, and Katarina's breath shortened as the other woman cupped the slick folds, and she bucked her hips, desperate for more. She felt Irelia shift, but she didn't care what the other woman was doing, so long as she did not _stop_ -

She sucked in another ragged breath as Irelia's mouth pressed against the side of her neck, her tongue moving in lazy, wide patterns on the skin, teeth scraping. The spot Irelia had chosen was well and truly above Katarina's collar. The choice had to be deliberate. Katarina didn't give a damn, there were already questions asked of her and Irelia, a bit of truth to it hurt nobody. She bit down on her raw, bleeding lip as Irelia dragged those cool fingertips up and around her clit, a finger either side, tight and close -

Heat rose up in her stomach, addictive and all-consuming. Katarina thrust herself back against Irelia's hand, demanding, the scorch of Irelia's breath on the side of her neck ratcheting delicious tension in her shoulders. The way her body reacted was almost embarrassing - and it was nowhere near enough.

"Don't fool around, Ionian," Katarina growled into her forearm, her voice taut and hoarse. "Some of us will still grow old and die."

She shuddered as Irelia's fingers dipped down. The touch of the woman's cool fingers against her entrance was maddening.

"Hard to forget how eager you are." Irelia's fingers moved again, far from gentle but still not giving Katarina what she craved. 

"And just whose fault is that?" Katarina asked, groaning under her breath, rucking her hips down on Irelia's hand - anything to get things moving. She could feel sweat prickling on her back of her neck, slick against where the front of Irelia's armour dug into her back. 

Katarina felt the other woman laugh at her frustration, and she tried to push herself up to glare over her shoulder. 

"Either you get on with it, or I -" Katarina cut herself off as Irelia thrust her fingers in, deep and hard and perfect. 

She arched her hips into it, her fingernails digging deep into the palm of her hands. The tang of blood filled her mouth, heady and pervasive, and she couldn't quite hold off her groans of satisfaction. Apparently that was the right sort of encouragement - Irelia added a finger and all thought fled Katarina's grasp. 

Perhaps she should have held out longer, just to make Irelia work for it. If she'd been able to _think_ at all, maybe she could have stopped herself before the brink. All that mattered was the delicious, rough friction and the harsh drag of Irelia's teeth across her ear, and then there was pressure, sharp and demanding on her twisted shoulder -

"Are you going to come for me or not, Noxian?" 

Katarina swore, her every muscle growing impossibly tight, and a wave of pleasure drowning away everything else. In the wake of it, everything was silent, but for the rasp of Irelia's breath in her ear, the pounding of her own heartbeat. 

"Shit," Katarina breathed, pushing herself up on arms that quaked and threatened to send her sprawling. Irelia wasn't a bad lay - strength was strength, no matter the source. 

Irelia didn't reply, merely pulling her hand free of the leathers. Katarina felt a hot shiver run down her spine as Irelia's lips trailed lightly down the side of her neck. She turned sharply, into Irelia's body, sliding forward and settling her hands against the warmed armour. 

"We're not done," Katarina told Irelia, her smile sharp and taunting. 

"We're not," Irelia agreed, grasping Katarina's chin between her thumb and forefinger, pulling her into a deep, demanding kiss. 

Delighted with how far she'd pushed Irelia, Katarina reciprocated hungrily, winding her fingers through loose dark hair. Karma and Ionia might not have appreciated the woman's darkness and anger - but Katarina had certainly found a perfect outlet for it. 

She was going to _love_ seeing Karma next time.


End file.
